HANK KING

Graduate of Upper Merion High School (1962). Hank King signed with the Baltimore Orioles. He played from 1962 to 1968 until retired at young age due to elbow injury in the Oriole’s farm system.

King resurrected his career in 1975 as the “Phillies” batting practice pitcher, also keeping defensive charts while on the bench.

In 1984 Hank became the “Phillies” advance scout, now retired.

King has thrown to every “Philly” hitter from 1975 to present. His knowledge and wisdom has come from playing professionally and working with such professionals, in particular, the players and coaches of the 1980 Phillies world champions, which brings to mind that glorious ride down Broad Street to JFK stadium…hopefully, before retirement we can have the pleasure of doing this again.

Kingplex opened in 2002 and Hank has placed 57 of his seniors into college baseball programs, all receiving some type of scholarship, baseball or academic related. To mention a few of the schools …Widener – Millersville – James Madison –Notre Dame – Kutztown – New Orleans – Desales – Temple –Xavier (Ohio)- we have also had two students sign professional contracts.

Academics are our main priority. As eleventh graders we schedule them for SATs an also do videos to send to distant colleges. In the fall we invite college coaches to come look at our players. We also have had a number of free agent tryouts. I encourage parents to stay for the lesson hopefully i will learn from them and they will learn something from me. Our motto is “we are teaching tomorrows professionals today.” Once you leave the facility you will be vastly improved. The biggest obstacle to overcome is the fear of the baseball itself; we have a method to overcome this obstacle. We have many drills to deal with our weaknesses. It is all about fundamentals and developing baseball skills instead of winning at a youngster’s expense. Learn to play the game. The person who has been most influential in my teaching methods has been the late “John Vukovich” - we worked together for 21 years.

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Hank King was honored with a Lifetime achievement award in scouting on January 17th, 2009 in Los Angeles along with George Brett, Whitney Herzog, Rich Goose Gossage and the Alou Family.

Hank has retired from advancing after 24 years - longest in baseball. He is actively involved in baseball clinics throughout the area and speaking engagements. Hank is currently the assistant Baseball Coach at the Valley Forge Military Academy.